Ducks rank no. 18 in AVCA preseason poll

Oregon volleyball is one of seven Pac-12 teams ranked in the AVCA preseason top 25.

Posted: Aug 8, 2018 2:53 PM

Posted By: Andrew Haubner

Eugene, Ore. -- The University of Oregon volleyball team was among one of seven teams from the Pac-12 that found themselves in the AVCA preseason top 25 poll. The Ducks checked in at no. 18, sandwiched in the poll between the University of Washington, ranked no. 17 and the University of Utah at no. 19.

Stanford took the top overall ranking in the AVCA preseason.

Last season, Oregon made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament and were also ranked no. 18 at the start of last season. It was head coach Matt Ulmer's first year at the helm. The Ducks finished with an 18-12 record and have a top 10 recruiting class nationally for 2019.

It will be a tough opening part of the season for U of O, who see preseason no. 3 Texas and then no. 2 Nebraska in a two day span. That will come at the VERT challenge in Lincoln, Nebraska. The first win of the Matt Ulmer era was an upset win over the Huskers in 2017. Following that slate, Oregon will see three more top 10 opponents before the second week of September: no. 1 Stanford, no. 4 Minnesota and no. 6 Penn State.

The full schedule includes five top five teams, 10 top 11 opponents, and 15 matches against top 20 ranked teams. That road begins Saturday, August 11th with the annual Green-Yellow scrimmage at Matthew Knight Arena. The scrimmage starts at 7pm.